Non-unique. The US economy is becoming increasingly built on monopolies
John Maudlin 19 - Financial writer, publisher, and New York Times bestselling-author. Serves a million readers with Thoughts From the Frontline free investment newsletter. Most recent book is Code Red: How to Protect Your Savings from the Coming Crisis. Appears regularly on CNBC and Bloomberg TV. Chairman of Mauldin Economics, previous CEO of the American Bureau of Economic Research, current President of the investment advisory firm Millennium Wave Advisors, LLC. (April 11, 2019, “America Has A Monopoly Problem,” Forbes, https://www.forbes.com/sites/johnmauldin/2019/04/11/america-has-a-monopoly-problem/)
Without realizing it, we’ve become a nation of monopolies. A large and growing part of our economy is “owned” by a handful of companies that face little competition.
They have no incentive to deliver better products or to get more efficient. They simply rake in cash from people who have no choice but to hand it over.
This would be impossible if we had true capitalism.
Even if we admit some businesses are natural monopolies, most aren’t. Most of them found some non-capitalistic flaw to exploit.
In theory, this problem should solve itself as technology and consumer preferences change. Yet it isn’t happening. Axios outlined the problem in a recent article on farm bankruptcies.
Across industries, the U.S. has become a country of monopolies.
Three companies control about 80% of mobile telecoms. Three have 95% of credit cards. Four have 70% of airline flights within the U.S. Google handles 60% of search. The list goes on. (h/t The Economist)
In agriculture, four companies control 66% of U.S. hogs slaughtered in 2015, 85% of the steer, and half the chickens, according to the Department of Agriculture. (h/t Open Markets Institute)
Similarly, just four companies control 85% of U.S. corn seed sales, up from 60% in 2000, and 75% of soy bean seed, a jump from about half, the Agriculture Department says. Far larger than anyone — the American companies DowDuPont and Monsanto.